Will I find Fred Olsen too smokey?

keep seeing adverts for Fred Olsen cruises, and had a look at their website. Some very tempting itineraries, and I went as far as to look at cabin availability, but then discovered that this cruise line still allows smoking on balconies.

I’ve never considered a non balcony cabin before so 3 questions

1. for an out of season winter cruise, do the ocean view cabins have sufficient light and views to make up for the lack of balcony?

2. Are the promenade decks likely to be full of smokers? The cruise lines I am used to seem to attract more non smokers, so there are relatively few areas of the ship that are no go areas.

3. Any rumours that Fred Olsen will be following the current trend to provide a healthy and pleasant atmosphere on their ships, and banning smoking on balconies any time soon?

Many thanks in advance.

Superior ocean view rooms have a large window(approx half cabin width). We have found this to give adequate light and view.

Smoking on the promenade deck is in a small area so easily avoided.

We have been on both Balmoral and Black Watch....we are non-smokers and have never had a problem with smokers. These ships had a designated area for smokers.

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We have been on Braemar a few times and smoking wasn't really a problem, not so many people smoke these days and there are areas on the open deck which are dedicated to smoking it is not allowed in all areas. I would advise to check cabin layout as some cabins on the ships don't have room to have beds side by side some are arranged in an L shape but we really enjoyed the ambiance of a Fred cruise very much like a country house hotel.

. I would advise to check cabin layout as some cabins on the ships don't have room to have beds side by side some are arranged in an L shape but we really enjoyed the ambiance of a Fred cruise very much like a country house hotel.

Thanks for that reminder! I was a bit surprised when I saw pictures of the cabins and realised that the window would be partially, if not fully, obstructed by the bed arranged as a double.

Still not sure, the itinerary looks very good, but I’ve got used to having a balcony, at least for the view even if it’s too cold to spend much time out there.

Might have to wait until Fred Olsen catches up with other cruise lines with smoke free balconies.